between 1540 and 1583, the
indications are that it was not. Hopi traditions assert that it was in
existence when the Spaniards came, and the statement of the legendists
whom I have consulted are definite that the survivors of Sikyatki went
to Awatobi after the overthrow of the former pueblo. It would not
appear, however, that Awatobi was founded prior to Sikyatki, nor is it
stated that the refugees from Sikyatki built Awatobi, which is within
the bounds of possibility, but it seems to be quite generally conceded
that the Sikyatki tragedy antedated the arrival of the first
Spaniards.

There can, I think, be no doubt that the Hopi pueblo first entered by
Pedro de Tobar, in 1540, was Awatobi, and that the first conflict of
Spanish soldiers and Hopi warriors, which occurred at that time, took
place on the well-known Zuni trail in Antelope valley, not far from
Jeditoh or Antelope spring. This pueblo is the nearest village to
Cibola (Zuni), from which Tobar came, and as he took the Zuni trail he
would naturally first approach this village, even if the other pueblos
on the rim of this valley were inhabited. It is interesting to
consider a few lines from Castaneda, describing the event of that
episode, to see how closely the site of Awatobi conforms to the
narrative. In Castaneda's account of Tobar's visit we find that the
latter with his command entered Tusayan so secretly that their
presence was unknown to the inhabitants, and they traversed a
cultivated plain without being seen, so that, we are told, they
approached the village near enough to hear the voices of the Indians
without being discovered. Moreover, the Indians, the narrative says,
had a habit of descending to their cultivated fields, which implies
that they lived on a mesa top. Awatobi was situated on a mesa, and the
cultivated fields were in exactly the position indicated. The habit of
retiring to their pueblo at night is still observed, or was to within
a few years. Tobar arrived at the edge of Antelope valley after dark
(otherwise he would have been discovered), crossed the cultivated
fields under cover of night, and camped under the town at the base of
the mesa. The soldiers from that point could readily hear the voices
of the villagers above them. Even at the base of the lofty East Mesa I
have often heard the Walpi people talking, while the words of the town
crier are intelligible far out on the plain. From the configuration of
the valley it would not, howeve